Tool Advice

[84Supra]

Hey guys,

I've had good luck with caswell products in the past, polishing my 1984 toyota supra wheels, found here: http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=13251

I did it by wetsanding by hand 320,400,600 and 1500 grit papers and finally polishing with white rouge. I have over 80 hours invested in the wheels and am happy with the results.

I am now polising hte upper intake manifold for the 7mge motor I am installing. I have filed off all the casting marks and have bee sanding for some time now with 50 grit or 80 grit, depending on the area. The results I have can be seen in these pictures:




I'm becoming frustrated with the progress I am making. I feel like I am getting close to as far as I can go by hand. I have a 3000rpm drill (which I used on the wheels), a die grinder aswell as a dremel tool (ready bo blow up). It's very difficult if not impossible to get into the edges by the flanges and the lille nooks and corners that you can see in the pictures. I post this message to ask for any suggestions some of you more experienced polishers may have for as far as tool choice...is there a way I can polish this properly and efficiently with tools, if so...what should I buy? I really don't think I can do it by hand.

Thanks for any advice you can lend,
Steve

[alabama_lowlife]

greaseless compound is worth it's weight in gold! it will get rid of alot of that hand sanding. try getting some small 1" buffs to go in a dremel for the tight spots or use felt bobs. a flexible shaft grinder like the one made by chicago (harbor freight) is what i use.

BTW i'm very impressed with the wheels! nice work

[84Supra]

thanks very much for the compliments...I have been dubbed "the bling king" in the mk2 supra community because of it! haha. I really do love polishing...or rather, the results.

what greaseless compounds should I consider using? Although they have grits listed, can they be considered on par with the grits associated with handsanding? for instance, if I were to buy some 120,240 and 400 grit greasless, could I do some touch up with 400 by hand and move right to 600? Basically looking for advice in general since I have never used greasless compounds... what increments would be good to purchase?

I attempted to use black, brown and white rouge on my wheels but found that both black and brown left fine scratches...even though I used brand new uncontaminated wheels on a very clean aluminum surface. So I guess handsanding is the only solution for me after the 400 greasless....

[baz]

nice mags . your biggest problem now is that hand sanding !
buy or build a small buffing machine if your budget allows it or make a fixture to hold your drill in a vise then heres is the list of stuff you need to do that job.
greaseless 120 240 and 400 ,cartrige rolls to get those hard to reach spots
120 240 and 320 (if you put some buffing compound on the 320 rolls you get almost mirror finish)and get yourself an orbital sander with 120 240 400 and 600 grit disc (you willsave yourself hours of sanding with this) .
last time i did one of these celica wheels took me less than 1 1\2 hours per wheel to prep sand and buff .

[84Supra]

amazing tips, thanks very much. Can't wait to get the proper tools to do this without a huge effort. The smaller wheels and rolls seem impossible to use with a drill, should I get some for my die grinder, or the dremel?

[84Supra]

where do you guys get your cartridge rolls from? the finest caswell has is 120 grit.

[mpierich]

I would recommend the search function as well, since these are very common questions and have been dealt with many, many times.

[jrow]

84Supra,

When you start a polishing project, try to match the original finish with the first grit of sandpaper that you use! After you have sanded use the greaseless compound up to 400 grit. Then start with Emory on a sewn buff ETC. If you don't start to get a good polish at this point, wet sand with 600 grit and use the Stainless Steel (SS) or Tripoli compound. You can purchase 1/4" X 1" cartridge rolls in different grits. They do take a different mandrel but will work either in a drill motor or a die grinder and some Dremels. You can also buy either 6" or 12" X 1/4" extensions that will fit a 1/4" mandrel for getting into those tight spots between your runners.
Greaseless grit tops out at 400 grit so if you have sanded using anything finer that 400 grit, don't use the greaseless! The inside corners can be sanded using small cartridge rolls or 1", 1 1/2", or 2" treated buffs with greaseless. Get enough buffs so you can load them with greaseless and still keep working! You can also use Cratex wheels to get into the inside corners. http://www.cratex.com/.
While you have the manifold off why not polish the inside with a flap wheel?

John

[84Supra]

Thanks guys,

I'll be looking for some cartridge rolls and buying some greasless from caswell to help me out. I am assuming a die grinder is the best tool for the rolls? Caswell only sells 120grit rolls, does anybody know of a good source for 320 grit?

[84Supra]

as for polishing inside...I intend to do so, and portmatch it in the process. I need a gasket set first though.